Man’s Search For Meaning – Simplified

Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.
~Victor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

I’m not a nerd, but ever since I can remember, I loved learning about things that intrigued me, and finding answers to question that others never asked. As a kid, I was always quiet and rather shy. I was very sensitive and empathic. I also had this huge thirst for knowledge and, maybe because my immediate family environment was unpredictable, I loved submerging myself in a world of fantasy. I believe that in a way, it was sort of a safe refuge for me at the time; a place to escape into, a world of infinite possibilities and never-failing imagination.
I remember spending a lot of summers at my grandparents’ small farm, located not far from the city I grew up in. I had many cousins and family and we usually spent one month of summer holidays there together, with our moms taking turns looking after us, so that we wouldn’t drive grandma crazy. It was a time of fun and adventures, but I was the youngest in the pack and not always able to keep up with the rest of the cousins when they embarked on the wild “cowboys and Indians” chase. Not that fast to run or jump through the creek, nor brave enough to venture into the abandoned old house, still standing next to my grandparents’ farm. Not surprisingly, the older bunch always found a way of ditching me and running off to chase bandits or re-enact their favorite action movies.

Luckily for me, my grandma’s house was next door to the public library, and after a while the librarian didn’t mind me coming and spending time on the porch in a wicker rocking-chair with a different book every other day.

I’m pretty sure that I was the only kid in the summer who was going there, but I had this curiosity in me that would not let me stop looking for answers to things that got my interest, until I exhausted all resources available on the subject. Always looking for different points of view, perspectives, or explanations.

I found it fascinating to read about ancient mythologies, which later turned into reading about ancient philosophers, mystics, and sages whose job was to observe other people’s’ lives and draw conclusions about human nature, the human mind, belief systems, limitations, and strengths. It never ceased to amaze me how much people tended to complicate their own lives by bringing drama, blame, shame, fear, and ego into it, or how they use those as excuses to justify their behaviour during different phases of emotions. You could notice patterns of behavior governed by emotions: when they were happy, people would use one form of expression; when they were angry it was another; and when they were sad, it was totally something else. But sometimes their reactions were the result of old wounds that triggered anger, guilt, or shame, associated with the past situations that never healed. Making all intentions of being kind and loving with one another vanish as quickly as the trigger was pushed by the other person, who wasn’t in many cases aware of them.

When I started learning about holistic approach to life, it dawned on me that people who took into account all of the aspects of our being (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) and treated them with equal importance were really onto something, here. First of all, I noticed that this entire community had a mission to share their beliefs and the goal of bringing the light into our lives. They all share their journeys, their struggles, and profound experiences, to help others find the way to love, ease, joy, balance, abundance, and inspiration. And by openly talking with others about their own experiences, they not only heal their own stories, but also help others do the same.
Someone might say that it’s good for them, but that it is not his cup of tea because he is realistic, firmly standing on the ground and not being delusional or overly optimistic about his reality and life. But, if he struggles with fear about the future or allows anxiety to run his life and wreak havoc in it or if he hides behind addictions of any sort (food, substance, drama, to name a few), then I believe that this person should re-examine his reality! Or at least ask himself a question: is this the life he really wants to live?

Just like the majority of holistic healers, I believe that we are not meant to suffer in our lives, but evolve into more powerful, aware, and creative beings. And joy, happiness, and abundance is our life purpose.

I’m not crazy, in case you are about to ask if I do not watch TV or read the news. And in case you want to ask what does happiness have to do with violence, poverty, racism, terrorism, or global natural and economical crisis, I will have to say – NOT much. But the way we handle our global crisis is not exactly very effective, and solutions we come up with don’t work either.
Let me remind you that “war on terror” tactics did not bring any positive results. On the contrary, there is an incredible number of people who suffer because of it. Some countries resemble a pile of rubble. Tons of people are misplaced from their homeland, orphaned, or separated from families, traditions, customs, or even everything they’ve ever known. There is a devastated number of war vets suffering from PTSD who cannot find their way back to normal life because of the unspeakable horrors they witnessed or were a part of. Every day we hear about innocent lives lost due to violence that creates even more fear and hatred.

I’m pretty sure that you remember the horror and devastation on Christmas Day 2004, when a tsunami claimed 250,000 lives in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Let me also remind you that entire globe joined forces in organizing help in various forms and shapes, to support rescue and recovery efforts and rebuild the lives of survivors in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand that were hit the hardest. Lots of funds also went into finding a better warning system in that area, affected by seismic movement prone to underwater earthquakes.
International efforts were amazing and it engaged an unbelievable number of volunteers, who came together despite their gender, race, color, or origin. The question that comes to mind is: do we really have to experience or witness a disaster of epic proportions before we overcome the issues that divide and separate us? Are we not capable of change otherwise? Do we literally have to hit the wall before we decide to look at our lives and see that if we fuel hatred, we create more violence, but if we unite and treat each other with compassion, we can move mountains and make miraculous progress?

Nothing will ever change if we keep waiting for the collective to take action.

Nothing will change until each of us decides to examine our own life, and look at ourselves through a compassionate lens before we come to terms that we need to let go of the crap that no longer serves us. Nothing will change until we start incorporating a holistic approach and decide to heal ourselves first, before we can make room for new and better things to come into our lives! So, don’t discard the idea that “light is the new black” and give it a chance if you cannot find other ways of transforming your life for good!

“Rather than searching for life’s meaning, remember that you always have the power to create it.”
~ Unknown